mod_ldap — LDAP Directory Lookups

mod_ldap lives in src/mod/directories/ and implements FreeSWITCH's loadable directory interface backed by an LDAP server. It allows other modules — most notably mod_dialplan_directory — to query an LDAP tree for call-routing data (extensions, contexts, callflow actions) instead of reading static XML files.

Reach for mod_ldap when your organization already maintains user or extension records in an LDAP-compatible directory (OpenLDAP, Active Directory, 389 DS) and you want FreeSWITCH to pull routing data from that single source of truth rather than duplicating it in flat configuration files.

Loading the Module

The module name for fs_cli and modules.conf.xml is mod_ldap. It is not enabled in the default vanilla load set — the entry in conf/vanilla/autoload_configs/modules.conf.xml is commented out:

<!-- <load module="mod_ldap"/> -->

Uncomment that line (or add it) to load mod_ldap at startup.

Configuration: dialplan_directory.conf.xml

mod_ldap itself contains no configuration parser; it exposes only the low-level directory interface (directory_open, directory_query, directory_next, directory_next_pair, directory_close). The configuration for connecting to LDAP lives in dialplan_directory.conf.xml, which is read by mod_dialplan_directory — the dialplan module that acts as the bridge between an incoming call and the directory backend.

Parameter	Purpose	Accepted Values	Default
directory-name	Selects which directory driver to use	String; must be ldap to use this module	(none)
host	Hostname or IP address of the LDAP server	Hostname or IP string	(none)
dn	Bind DN used to authenticate to the LDAP server	Full distinguished name string	(none)
pass	Password for the bind DN	String	(none)
base	Base DN from which subtree searches start	Distinguished name string	(none)

mod_ldap always connects on the default LDAP port (389) and negotiates LDAPv3 with simple-bind authentication. There is no TLS/LDAPS option in the current source.

Example from the shipped vanilla configuration (conf/vanilla/autoload_configs/dialplan_directory.conf.xml):

<configuration name="dialplan_directory.conf" description="Dialplan Directory">
  <settings>
    <param name="directory-name" value="ldap"/>
    <param name="host" value="ldap.freeswitch.org"/>
    <param name="dn" value="cn=Manager,dc=freeswitch,dc=org"/>
    <param name="pass" value="test"/>
    <param name="base" value="dc=freeswitch,dc=org"/>
  </settings>
</configuration>

Dependencies

mod_ldap requires OpenLDAP client libraries (libldap and liblber) at compile time. On Debian/Ubuntu, install the development package before building:

apt-get install libldap2-dev

The Makefile.am guards compilation with an HAVE_LDAP autoconf check and will abort with an explicit error if the library is missing. On Windows, mod_ldap uses the platform-native winldap.h / winber.h headers instead of OpenLDAP.

Source: src/mod/directories/mod_ldap